The present invention relates to an adjustable guide rail apparatus for adjusting positions of first and second guide rails disposed respectively on opposite sides of the path of a conveyor, for guiding articlesa along the path.
Known in the art, there is the U.S. Pat. No. 2,229,605 of H. H. SNYDER et al., granted on Jan. 21, 1941. This patent describes a conveyor unit including a conveyor and guide rails for guiding articles along the conveyor. The guide rails are disposed in laterally spaced relationship and extend longitudinally off the conveyor. The guide rails are supported by supporting units disposed in pairs at longitudinal spaced intervals. Each of the supporting units comprises a horizontal disposed crank arm, one end of the crank arm being pivotally connected to the rail, a vertically disposed shaft to the upper end of which the other end of the crank arm is keyed, a vertically disposed sleeve in which the vertical shaft is rotatably mounted. Worm gears are keyed on the lower end of the vertical shaft. A transversally disposed shaft has worm portions thereon for engaging the worm gears so that they will be rotated simultaneously. Means are also provided on each end of the transversally disposed shaft for rotating it.
One problem with this apparatus resides in the fact that it is not possible to adjust independently each guide rail.
Also known in the art, there are the following U.S. patents that describe different guide rail systems for conveyors: U.S. Pat. No. 3,554,353 (RAUDAT), granted on Jan. 12, 1971; U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,938 (STONE), granted on Apr. 2, 1974; U.S. Pat. No. 3,874,497 (CARLSON), granted on Apr. 1, 1975; U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,594 (SIJBRANDIJ), granted on Mar. 5, 1985; U.S. Pat. No. 4,880,104 (EVANS et. al.), granted on Nov. 14, 1989; U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,517 (JOHNSON), granted on Jun. 12, 1990; U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,835 (BUTLER et al.), granted on Jan. 8, 1991.
One problem with these systems is that they cannot provide a means for adjusting guide rails of relatively long sections in such a manner that the user does not have to make several cumbersome adjustments.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an adjustable guide rail apparatus by which relatively long sections of guide rails can be adjusted in a single operation by the user.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide an adjustable guide rail apparatus by which each guide rail of relatively long section can be adjusted independently.